Written question asked by Michael Dugher (Labour) on Tuesday, 24 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 April 2012. It was answered by Owen Paterson (Conservative) on Monday, 30 April 2012 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Procurement

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's percentage procurement spend with small and medium-sized enterprises was in (a) the fourth quarter of 2010-11, (b) the first quarter of 2011-12 and (c) the second quarter of 2011-12.

Answer: The Department does not currently record and publish information about the size of suppliers as this does not fully reflect the number and size of businesses engaged in supplying goods and services. For example, small and medium-sized enterprises can be found within larger supply chains.The total number of invoices received by the Department in the requested periods are as follows:"(a) the fourth quarter of 2010-11: 2,463""(b) the first quarter of 2011-12: 2,133""(c) the second quarter of 2011-12: 1,877."

Secondary information